Beetroot Kuzhambu

As my roots are from Tirunelveli I naturally have a craving for tasty authentic south Indian dishes especially Sothi which is our family favourite.The recipe for sothi varies from family to family and we do have a special recipe that passes down the generations.I will soon post the recipe of our family favourite sothi. This kuzhambu is a derivation of sothi with little variations. My father’s eldest sister (my aunt) gave this recipe to my mom and it’s my absolute favorite.

I was a novice in cooking when I was working in Chennai and when my mom visited me once she taught this recipe as she made this awesome kuzhambu .I still remember the day when both of us in that micro kitchen of my flat was chatting, laughing and gossiping and meanwhile doing the cooking as well. Those good old days……hmmmmmm

Ingredients:

Beetroot-1 medium sized

Sambar powder-1-2Tbsp

Moong dal or green gram dal-1/2 cup

Grated coconut-1/4 cup

Lemon-1 (small)

For tempering:

Mustard seeds-1tsp

Urad dal-1/2 tsp

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Oil- 2 tsp

How it Happened:

1. Remove the skin, cut the beetroot into small cubes and pressure cook them.

2. Boil the dhal until they are mushy and keep aside.

3. Grind the coconut into a coarse paste.

4.Switch on the stove and in a pan add the steamed beetroot, sambar powder and 1 glass of water and boil them covered in medium flame until the raw smell of the sambar powder is gone.

5. Now add the cooked dal and simmer for 6-7 minutes.

6. Finally add the ground coconut and simmer until it foams up. Now switch off the flame.

7. Heat oil in a kadai add mustard, urad dal, and curry leaves. When they splutter add it to the kuzhambu.

8. After 15 minutes when the kuzhambu cools down a bit add the lemon juice and mix well.

9. Serve with hot rice and appalam.

Notes:

*Adjust the sambar powder according to your taste as it decides the spiciness of the dish.

* Do not overcook the beetroot as they will become mushy .So just pressure cook for 1 whistle.

*After adding dal carefully keep stirring and cooking in simmer as the dhal tends to get stuck or burnt at the bottom of the vessel.

*Wait sometime for the kuzhambu to cool, as adding lemon juice in hot kuzhambu will bring in bitterness and will spoil the whole dish. 

*This goes well with rice and also with hoppers/idiyappam.